20 Best Cb Ssb Radio (2022 Updated)

I understand why this product is no longer available, many of the units have a screen that is unreadable during the day. I wish I had looked at product forums, I would then have found out it is a common problem.

Uniden supposedly replaced my unit and it is exactly the same, unreadable. Their telephone support suggested I build some sort of cover to shade it during the day. seriously? The support supervisor said Uniden won’t do anything about it, So I am stuck with a $130 CB radio that I can only use at night.

I will never buy anything from Uniden ever again, and if asked about Uniden will provide honest feedback on my experience. They sell an unusable product and don’t stand behind what they sell.

I’ve been a cb’er since the 70’s and owned several radios. Everything you read about this Uniden 980 is true. I’ve had it for over a week, matched up with a Hy-Gain 5/8 wave penetrator 500. Powered by a new 12 volt car battery this radio is awesome.

The beep was a bit annoying at first and I heard it had been eliminated so it wasn’t expected. But with all the cool features and perfect performance I no longer care if it beeps. Easy to read face, DX or local output, color choices, good reports on mic quality, and many features I like.

The SWR meter is a bit off compared to my separate meter, reads a bit higher than it is, which, if you think about it, could be viewed as good. The pass/fail test on ant. helped me with my ground. Told me it had gone bad over the years so I beefed up the connection and got a “pass”.

So I am very pleased with this radio in spite of the beep.

This is a decent radio if you’re looking for something basic. If you’re using it indoors the display is fine. if you want to use this in a vehicle the displays absolutely horrible in the daytime. I need to be able to see the display to tell what channel you’re on and also how strong incoming signals are on the S meter.

I was basically unable to see anything on the display with the brightness setting all the way up. Not to mention at night the display could also be better. I feel like the President McKinley has a much better display which is very easily seen during the day or night in a vehicle.

Although for the money that anytone at-6666 is a much better radio for a few dollars more.

I bought both this President McKinley and also a Uniden 980SSB at the same time. Although the Uniden is OK, the President McKinley oozes quality and is in my opinion the better radio of the two. Construction is good and the case, which is embossed with the President logo, has a thick and glossy polymer surface finish which resists scratching.

Overall the impression is of a radio which has been well designed and assembled with care. The microphone is a little on the puny side, but even so, it appears to work well and have a nicely balanced frequency response.

Controls feel nice and tight, and the display, although not as pretty as the Unidens, is very clear from any angle and even in strong sunlight. This is very important in mobile installations where the sun can drown out displays.

The Uniden 980SSB display is hopeless in strong sunlight and at anything other than directly in front of the viewer. The McKinleys Performance seems good with nice clear audio both on receive and transmit.

Sensitivity appears to be very good and surprisingly the received audio dosent suffer from much white noise, unlike other modern CBs Ive used. The 980SSB was also good in this regard. My President McKinley arrived slightly off frequency on LSB but this was easy to adjust internally (you can download the service manual on the net from President- unlike Uniden who selfishly refuse to make servicing data available!).

This is a great CB for in-car mounting due to the front-mounted speaker, and with its quality construction, should I think stand the test of time. Im happy with mine, and I feel that it is probably the best AM/SSB radio on the market at the moment.

Congratulations President for producing a quality radio, for releasing the service manual, and for providing a design which suits in-car installations.

Great packged radio for a AM/SSB mobile, RX is pretty good even through the little front speaker, clear and with certain “tone” settings , comfortable to listen to. Now for the TX, Its stable (no drifting on ssb mode) but the power out put on this unit is very little.

Out of the box its out put was 3 watts on AM with around a. 5watt fwd swing. Its clear but not very loud audio. The SSB power out put, was the same, peak power was 3. 5 watts. Most of the AM/SSB radios I have used would do around 12watts on ssb and around the same on AM 3 to 4 watts.

There is only 2 adjustments that can be made by a person for the 12 watt out put on SSB. If your not familiar with tuning and setting power out put, best leave that to a radio tech. I did manage to adjust mine to do 12 to 14 watts peak on SSB and on AM I left the carrier at 3 watts and was able to achive a decent 7-8 watts by voice (peak power) All in All a fairly simple radio to run even while mobile once the menu settings are to your liking.

Recomend it out of the box? no, but after a adjustment is made its not a bad value. The Board looks fairly solid (inside) so if its in a rough riding truck / jeep/4×4 Id say it would take a beating.

Compact size fits in most locations in car or truck. Controls set thru menu like new am-fm radios. When paired with a good antenna rx and tx are acceptable for cb band. Weather band is useful for on road alert conditions.

Don’t recommend any President brand antennas use Wilson or Firestik antennas for more adjustability for lower tuned SWR readings with this radio. Front firing speaker has enough volume in dash except for the most loud truck cabs.

Built in swr calibration is ok for spot check just not as accurate as outboard unit Dosy tr1000 meter.

This is my 1st new CB rig in 40 years! Lots of changes since then. Usually I am a dedicated ham radio operator, decided a CB plus a ham rig in my motor home wouldnt be such a bad idea. Bearcat has a solid name in the electronics business, Ive owned a handful of scanners of the years all have been stellar.

The Galaxy 2547 is really not that special of a radio but I do like the layout of it. myself being in the CB radio hobby since the 1970s I pretty much know what I like and what I don’t like and what to expect.

However this radio was done up by Lester at Lescomm inc. who did a wonderful job as always as I own a handful of radios that he has did and I’m always happy and content with them !!! He also has a special received notification that he does that I simply love !! So this radio is no ordinary radio now and it’s awesome.

out of the box stock these radios really aren’t that great is as a side note. but in the hands of a very capable experienced technician who loves what he does we’re talking about, this radio went pro it’s top dawg now.

Special thanks to Lester ! 73’s, James.

I am very happy with the new Galaxy radio that I purchased on Ebay from electronicscheapo. The radio was talking large right out of the box! I have been talking DX (long distance)all over the east and southeast portion of the USA.

My station is located about 30-miles southwest of Chicago and my call numbers are MDS-323. The farthest trip I have been able to make so far was over 900 miles from my base, down to Clearwater, Florida.

This is a fantastic radio that is built with the quality and appearance of a high end amateur radio. I am very pleased with the construction, features and overall performance of this radio. I would highly recommend this radio for anybody who is serious about talking on AM or Side Band.

This radio is totally upgradeable and puts out more than the FCC legal power limits right out of the box. I actually had to turn mine down and make some adjustments but they were very easy to do. With the owners manual and expanded circuit diagrams that Galaxy provides, it is a breeze for even a novice to adjust and customize.

My recommendation: Buy it, you’ll love it! If anybody wants to try and contact me “On-Air” you can set your dial to channel 38. I am usually on the lower side band (LSB). Call me MDS-323 on 27. 385Mhz LSB and lets QSO.

73’s to all the operators out there and I hope top hear you on the air. I am usually monitoring/broadcasting after 11PM CST on weekends and weekdays between 10AM & 2PM depending on conditions.

DOA,reciever for power cord on back broke!The main power board is loose from the radio!pcs. on front of radio missing. It is the worst I have ever bought on EBay!Shipped in mfg. box only,one small pc.

of bubble wrap inside. no packing!should have beenPut in larger box.

This is hands down the best home station base radio I have ever owned. Super sensitivity on reception and great power on emission. Modulation is near perfect. Mine was unlocked for 11 meters as destined for use in UK/Europe.

Hence it came ready with 10/11 and 12 Meters. Arrived from the USA totally unscathed and working like a charm. Although its power supply got a switch inside the case to choose in between 110v and 220v, I chose for the moment to leave it in 110v and use an external power converter.

Just remember if you switch it to 220v to replace the fuse in the back of the radio with a 220v 3amp as it comes stock with a 110v 5 amp.

The rci 69 base radio came double boxed with bubble wrap around it and Styrofoam packaging, wasn’t damaged in any way. I got great reports on modulation using a d104 desk mic. Strong 100% mod. With 95 watts output.

A beast of a radio. Base stations are hard to find this one is the way to go. Thank you Skywalker radios.

The RCI 2990 now called the 2995 has gone through several evolutionary changes over the years. It has always been an outstanding radio with its particular quirks. But always a head above the rest. Some of my best shouts were with RCI radios.

The RCI 2995 DX does have a few irritants such as the noisy cooling fan and poor side rejection and recption. The noisy fan can be an irritant and there are ways around cooling. However, as one person has stated, you shouldn’t have to instantly do mods on your radio to get the quality you want.

Such as whisper fans and a trip to the radio doctor to fix the receive end of your radio. Still it is the best for its class. There is one comment in the list that has the RCI marked with one star. I wanted to see if there was a reason for his low marks so I when to his sight to see if there was more than just, “It breaks and It’s not a good radio.

” then when I read his other reviews I understood that he has nothing good to say about any product. More to the point he doesn’t appear to understand what he is doing when it comes to radio. Took a while but I finally got it.

It’s a standing wave ratio, not a high standard wave. Make me wonder how many radios he has killed over the years. This is a good radio, it has it’s problem but all radios have their pluses and minuses.

This radio stands out a head above the rest.

Disappointed that my first review wasn’t posted but, I came back to correct myself. The microphone was wired correctly but the pin out in the manual is incorrect for this radio. This makes troubleshooting or adding an after market microphone difficult.

On the bench the radio appears to work as advertise so, my best guess for bad output audio on transmit is lack of grounding when using a magnetic mount antenna. R&D should investigate this and consider a ground terminal on the chassis or chassis ground via the negative lead using an isolation diode.

Overall design good but, it is not a plug and play radio.

I can’t review the product because even though I ordered it over 2 weeks ago, I have yet to receive it. I did get a notification that it is to be delivered today but I still believe that in today’s world, taking 2 weeks to receive something that is in stock is far too long.

I will not be ordering any more products through this business. While I believe the cobra products are great, I will buy them elsewhere.

Not the most amazing available, but it works for the most part. Probably gonna gut something that has more adjustments next time. A few more features would be nice

If you are looking to get into the hobby or if you are seasoned CB’er, this radio will not disappoint either person. No fuss ordering and perfectly packed and shipped, setting this radio up and testing it for the first time, I have to say that I am fully delighted as to the performance of this CB vs any other I have purchased in the past and I have owned a factory 959 before and many others.

The Flamethrower does all it claims to, optimized for cleanl power level and modulation performance with stock mic. The stability of the TX functioning is only rivaled by the receiver performance which has also been maximized.

All of the numerous functions work to perfection and alignment is superb for what would be a mass produced product, only the FlameThrower has been reworked into a custom product of its own. Contacts react to my calls due to the sheer quality of the audio, truly amazing in this day and age of overmodulated, splattering, distorted sounding mass of CB radios out there.

Great craftsmanship, I recommend this truly finished and quality checked product to the discerning CBer seeking no dissapointments. I expected a slight hum from the starlight EL display so it does not bother me nor does it interfere with receiving.

For those who don’t want the glowing faceplate or thehum, go for the other FlameThrower. The FlameThrower takes the great Galaxy 959 design and made it do what it was supposed to- it now works as great as it looks!.

I originally read the reviews and found good and bad. My main reason for buying this radio was for the backlighting of the face plate. Apparently there were several reports of the lighting not operating properly or at all.

So when I received my radio, that was one of the first things I checked, and of course it didn’t work. I was ready to send it back. So after two days of trying and cycling the dimmer switch it began to work so I let it be and it has worked fine ever since.

Overall it’s a great unit and I hope that concern never comes back. Overall it checks all the boxes, I would buy it again. Thanks, Joe.

So after buying this I read more reviews about this radio and not to many had good to say. Manley about the price. I liked the layout on this radio better than some, and the fact that it has been gone through.

It has everything I wanted in a CB. Once again I’m having SWR meter problems. comparing to other meters hooked up, I’m showing that the radio meter is off a little. I’m going to call the manufacturer and find out what to do.

Everything else is good. Power, modulation all check out good. It maybe priced a little high BUT if it’s what you want and like then $ doesn’t matter.

item is as described. it has good audio modulation. it does really well on am & really, really well on ssb. i have it hooked up to an antron 99 antenna for local talking & i use a horizontal dipole mainly for dx.

i really like this radio. so far, so good. 7.

The Galaxy DX2547 is an excellent rig. SSB is perfect, a lot of knobs that help pull in that rare DX. It is worth having the radio tuned and aligned. Ron

I bought this cb sight unseen and Im glad I did. I love the changeable backlight color and that it scans the cb channels. I bought it mainly because it operates in Ssb mode. The SWR meter matches almost perfectly with my antenna analyzers readings.

Output seems quite adequate for reliable communication. The only drawback is the nonfunctional external speaker jack. The speaker itself is fine, but the jack is BO. Im having trouble finding a replacement, so for the time being Ill just use a separate speaker.

Hello I buy tons of the 980 ssb radios for my customers and they all are very happy with them after I do my initial out of the box setup. there are several small issues that need to be addressed before the radio will be safe to use long term and to get longevity from them and best performance on transmit and receive.

Please see my e bay listing here snakeradiocustomshop. I also offer a small amp for a nice little boost for distance that will get you out of the noise and let you be heard. It is a durable dependable radio that works great when setup properly.

The price for a 980 with my 25 point setup is 195. 00 even and free shipping and then if you want the internal 100 watt add 85. 00. I have had excellent reports from customers who have gotten 50 miles from mobile to bas with my internal helper.

Thank You, Tim Owner of Snake Radio Customs restoration shop, snakeradiocustoms on you tube.

I’m so happy CB is making a comeback! Haven’t used it in over 20 years now. but recently got the itch to check out the scene for some odd reason and wouldn’t you know. there are a lot of people getting back on the radio waves.

This radio is a very nice one and especially for the money! It has been a reliable one and pretty powerful to boot. I did take mine in to a professional CB repair guy to get it tuned and amp’ed up. But even the repair guy complemented the radio and how much he got it to put out (legally, of course).

I’m using mine as a base station at home and a 20 ft whip on the back of my house. I put a Uniden 520XL in my truck. Another good radio by the Uniden folks!.

Hello I buy tons of the 980 ssb radios for my customers and they all are very happy with them after I do my initial out of the box setup. there are several small issues that need to be addressed before the radio will be safe to use long term and to get longevity from them and best performance on transmit and receive.

Please see my e bay listing here snakeradiocustomshop. I also offer a small amp for a nice little boost for distance that will get you out of the noise and let you be heard. It is a durable dependable radio that works great when setup properly.

The price for a 980 with my 25 point setup is 195. 00 even and free shipping and then if you want the internal 100 watt add 85. 00. I have had excellent reports from customers who have gotten 50 miles from mobile to bas with my internal helper.

Thank You, Tim Owner of Snake Radio Customs restoration shop, snakeradiocustoms on you tube.

I contemplated on this CB for months. I couldn’t decide if i wanted a full size CB for the features or save space and weight and sacrifice. Turns out, this little radio kicks some serious butt. I really got the best of both worlds.

It doesn’t have a few features like roger beep or Noise Blanker or the built in SWR meter but it does have ANL that seems to work excellent. I thought that i would get a noise cancelling mic but the little mic that comes with it is truly a nice one as i get many “loud and clears” when talking to others.

I wired it up using a cigarette lighter plug, which isn’t the most ideal power source, but i get very low noise and i like the convenience. I’m currently using this radio with a Wilson Lil Wil magnetic antenna and I’m getting SWR’s just a tad over 1 to 1.

Overall, I didn’t have to sacrifice at all. This radio has all the features that i would need for backwoods communication and i even saved a little money in the process. Highly recommend.

Im not really using this for off road. I use it for hi way use. At first I used a cheap antenna from a local retail store and got a approximately a mile range. I was really pleased and impressed with that.

Ive sense purchased a better antenna to get a little more range. Its real convenient with all the operations and settings on the mic and the compact light weight design I also really like that the speaker is in the mic.

That is the main reason why I purchased it. I would recommend this model to everyone!!.

Wanted another all in the hand, CB unit and found this one. Works well, but my Dodge 1500 2015 generates to much noise to receive well. I am picking up spark plug noise and wine from the alternator I need to filter out.

I ran ground straps on each side of my hood but may need to invest in new plug wires to get rid of the spark plug rasp. The CB seems built well and is loud enough to hear well. The display is larger than my other CB and this one has more functions.

It comes with an extension wire from the CB to the base unit but depending where I mount the base unit will determine If I will use the extension.

Installed this in my 2013 Jeep Wrangler. Most people I have run with use the Cobra 75 setup. This to me is more modern and I like all the features it has. The color changing backlight is awesome as well as the sound quality.

Very happy with this purchase!.

The Cobra 29, in all its incarnations, has been with us for at least fifty years. There have been twists and turns in its history, and, when Uniden was no longer making the boards, creativity gave way to consistency, something the Chinese manufacturers are quite good at.

Yes, the design is old, no question; but these units are performers. I can still plug in a 30 year old model, and know, that if it wasn’t abused, it will do its job. More importantly, it is easy to repair.

Parts, like the light bulb on the meter, do burn out, but replacements are readily available. So are the output devices, as long as you avoid all the counterfeits on the web! For the adventurous, the units are modifiable, and numerous websites discuss that is exquisite detail.

What doesn’t the old lady do? It doesn’t scan. Not an issue if you are sticking to a particular channel when traveling. To summarize: rugged, easy to maintain, and modify, and a solid performer.

Vintage Cobra 29 ltd are best buy before year 2000 and you get full half watt resistors and a full metal frame behind the face plate for rigidity and toughness. Vintage Cobras last for a long long time kinda bullet proof for riding around for millions of miles.

They usually never die if so just put some new capacitors in it and it will work like brand new. I like to recap vintage radios and sell them on ebay they work better than new that way. Scoe 918 look for my radios on ebay.

My cobras get out! Always have your antenna tuned by a professional radio shop and your radio will not blow up. Or it is possible to do it your self with a SWR meter. Try to make if flat so it gets all of the signal out there so you can be heard.

This was the 3rd Cobra 29LTD Classic I have purchased this year from 3 different companies. Unfortunately, all 3 radios have had the same problems. The S meters and the squelch were problematic on all 3 radios.

The S meters were off by about 4 S units and could not be calibrated to “S-9”. The squelch controls were noisy when turning the control knob back and forth. Also, after adjusting squelch control to cut out background noise, you can still hear a hissing sound until the squelch was turned up even further.

I was very disappointed in the radios and ended up throwing 1 radio in the garbage and gave the other 2 radios away.

The radio worked for about three months and then it stopped transmitting and receiving. I sent it in to Midland on warranty. I got to keep everything except the radio. Midland sent me a new radio and everything, they got my new radio back to me in a hurry.

I now have two of everything compatible with this CB Radio. I mounted it in my Silverado and it works exceptionally well. At first I had magnetic mount antennas to use with this radio, but now I have two fiberglass antennas mounted in the stake pockets.

These fiberglass antennas, whips, are Barjan rated at 500 watts. I get about 4 & 1/2 miles range with these two whips. The radio holds up exceptionally well. I have the Mic mounted to my storage compartment above my rearview mirror.

This radio looks and works really well. I’ll only ever buy Midland Radios. Midland is Great.

i hooked this up in my 07 wrangler and turned it on and dead keyed it was ok but when i talked into the mic it was a dead keyed modulation,no swing at all. i am going to remove it and turn up the mod.

and power to see if this helps. also i did not hear any one talking on any of the 40 channels so it might be a defect cb in time will tell. i bought this do to the reviews on it. it is mounted on the over head braket for the 07 jeep wrangler.

everything is hooked up correct. i will wright another review on it when i figure out the problem.

very nice cb radio for $50. 00 you can’t wrong. when i started talking on the cb radio in the mid 70’s I had a 23 channel midland radio with side band it was one of the best that I have ever had. just got it today and I am running a wilson roof mount 1000 antenna, they also make a magnet mount, it is one best antennas around.

back to the radio the microphone is one best that I have seen that comes with a radio. got to good reports on it today. also if you don’t have a good antenna you will be limted to how far you can talk and hear.

look a lot like a cobra 25LTD they start at about $90. 00 plus dollars. Ihave had a cobra 25LTD and think this radio comes very close to the cobra 25LTD.

Like all UNIDEN Radios this one meets the demands of every CBer. Due to the way this radio is built using SMD manufacturing, the unit is very light weight. Dont let that fool you though. It is in its own world class in every specification.

Ive enjoyed mine and now I am buying a second one. Buy with confidence and youll be pleased with this rig.

I wouldn’t get this radio. I’m on the after I bought it half the LCD screen goes dark as soon as it gets warm. And now a year later the microphone suddenly went bad. Went to a CB shop and of course it’s a fancy pants six pin which they didn’t have.

But the wise old experienced owner was able to fix it up and get me back down the road. $10. For the money get yourself a road King or a conex.

I was able to use this cb for about 15 mins. Great sound quality and the diognostics are a great feature. Problem is that it didn’t come in a protected box so the box was physically damaged the screen and top were scratched and I was pretty up set when the box came banged up.

Another problem is the cb fried when I plugged it in to the standard 12v cig adapter. It blew the fuse and shorted out the cb causing it to smoke. Was very up set but I was happy and content with the cb and HPP is accepting a return free of charge.

But the cb is a 9/10 overall rating. PS: the mic gain (volume of your voice to others) is very loud others could hear you loud and clear on 2-4 setting.

Works great, and feels well made. Simple controls and great audio clarity when properly tuned to the antenna. The speaker is on the bottom of the unit, so keep that in mind. Its so small I mounted it to my overhead console.

I can hear the speaker clearly and reach the mic easily.

If you plan on installing this lift for looks and riding around town, it is a great kit. If you plan to offroad, do NOT buy this lift. Around 1 year after being installed (before the warranty expired), my front passenger spring started sagging significantly more than the other three springs.

I tried to make a warranty claim with zone and they told me the ONLY way they could warranty my springs were if I had stock measurements for my jeep (which I didnt have) even though anyone with zero mechanical knowledge could tell it was sagging terribly.

Now almost two years after install, one of my rear springs has started to sag significantly more than the others. Now, it is impossible to get my jeep to sit level on a flat surface. I do wheel pretty hard but still, the springs should not sag so easily.

Also, the shocks are no good. I blew out both front shocks on my first offroading trip with the new lift.